Audio Visual Departmenthttp://www.alatechsource.org/taxonomy/term/12/0
enFeeling the Curb in Montereyhttp://www.alatechsource.org/blog/2006/10/feeling-the-curb-in-monterey.html
<p>Last Sunday I traveled out to California to attend the <a href="http://www.infotoday.com/il2006/default.shtml">Internet Librarian Conference</a>—ITI's tenth, my first. I managed to fly to San Jose with nary a directional question, then took a shuttle bus past fields of artichokes and garlic, and dry brown hills mad in the October sun, down to Monterey on the coast.<br /><br /><img title="Sea Lions" alt="Sea Lions" src="/media/blog/sealions2.jpg" align="right" /> Monterey certainly has continued its upward drift in the twenty-five years since I last visited. The weekly farmers' market is a sight to behold. In addition to most fruits and vegetables, the long rows of booths sell almonds, herbs, art, handcrafts, fragrances, and much more. Monterey would hardly be recognized by the early 20th-century denizens who Steinbeck immortalized in his novel <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cannery_Row_(novel)"><em>Cannery Row</em></a><em>.</em> Only the roguish sea lions lolling in the waters of Monterey Bay sustain the supine flophouse worldview.<br /><br /><strong>IL 2006 Peeps<br /></strong>Monday morning <a href="http://www.jajance.com/Site/About%20Me.html">J.A. Jance</a> gave the opening keynote address. Having a prolific writer of mysteries open a library and information-technology conference is a bit unusual, but Jance regaled us with Horatio Algerish stories of her transformation, through pluck and determination, from being trapped in a bad marriage to her current life of red sports cars and private jets. She also sang "a cappella" a couple of songs. You had to be there.<br /><br />Michael Stephens gave a <a href="/blog/2006/09/the-culture-of-trust-one-year-in-the-life-of-library-20.html">one-year update</a> on the Library 2.0 movement. He encouraged us to grab the <a href="/blog/2006/07/the-long-tail-wags-the-dog.html">long tail</a> and use the wisdom of crowds to improve library services.</p>
<p>Helene Blowers from the Public Library of Charlotte and Mecklenburg County (PLCMC), North Carolina, described her library's <a href="http://plcmclearning.blogspot.com/">Learning 2.0</a> initiative, which <a href="/blog/2006/08/steal-this-idea-learning-20-at-plcmc.html">began in August</a> and concludes at the end of this month. At PLCMC, they encouraged all 540 librarians and staff members to take responsibility for their individual learning about Library 2.0 tools and techniques by completing 23 self-paced tutorials, covering such topics as blogging, digital photos, RSS, tagging, wikis, podcasts, videos, and downloadable audio. Each staff member who completed all 23 segments received an MP3 player. Approximately 65 percent of the staff enrolled in the program. Blowers expects approximately 40 percent of the staff to complete the self-learning program.<br /><br />Lynne Webb and Nadean Meyer provided an update on what's happening with e-books and digital audiobooks in K-12 education, especially for struggling and reluctant readers. They reported these students tend to respond more positively to digital audiobooks than to e-books.<br /><br /><a title="Photo Sharing" href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/alatechsourceblog/279473076/"><img height="180" alt="Matt Gullett and Kathryn Deiss" src="http://static.flickr.com/96/279473076_f9b5b7e1f1_m.jpg" width="240" align="right" border="0" /></a> <a href="http://zephyrinnovation.com/">Kathryn Deiss</a> and <a href="http://www.libraryjournal.com/article/CA6312517.html">Matt Gullett</a> spoke about the two target cultures of the conference—librarianship and information technology—that often are at loggerheads. They reminded us of the third stakeholder group in this equation—users. Deiss noted although both cultures perceive that uniformity of service is a good and definite need, we may want to scrutinize that assumption. <br /><br />Deiss also described a recent study that surveyed the differences between two "tribes" of coffee customers (the "Starbucks Tribe" and the "Dunkin Donuts Tribe") <a title="Photo Sharing" href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/alatechsourceblog/279473067/"><img height="180" src="http://static.flickr.com/104/279473067_dbc5973c9d_m.jpg" width="240" align="right" border="0" alt="279473067_dbc5973c9d_m.jpg" /></a>when relating her point that the external world is thriving on the emergence of niche markets that don't try to be the same for all people.<br /><br />Lori Bell gave a very entertaining and informative talk about <a href="http://www.infoisland.org/">Info Island</a> in the Second Life 3D virtual-reality environment. Evidently avatar demand for information services is gaining on the high-demand areas of sex and gambling. We're number three and trying harder. <br /><br /><img title="curb feelers" alt="curb feelers" src="/media/blog/curbfeelers.jpg" align="right" border="0" />Tuesday was a curb feeler day for me—one of those days that require considerable attention and effort to speak in complete, cogent sentences and to avoid stumbling while walking. The cause of my curb feelerness was not the result, as the 17th-century English diarist <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pepys">Samuel Pepys</a> would have written, of having been scandalously overserved the previous evening with spiritous liquors, but of weeks—nay months—of disrupted sleep patterns wrought by three lovable toddlers and one lovable dog. <br /><br />Cliff Lynch from the <a href="http://www.cni.org/">Coalition for Networked Information</a> gave the keynote address on Tuesday morning. He spoke about e-science, which has emerged as a result of huge data sets, professional-amateur collaboration, and federal and institutional funding. Lynch noted that e-humanities and e-social sciences are beginning to emerge as well, which is going to create some fundamental policy and mission decisions for libraries. It will begin with large research libraries but eventually will involve all libraries. The basic issue is what roles and activities libraries will undertake regarding data curation. Lynch predicted, at least in the U.S., a patchwork will develop of disciplinary and institutional data repositories.<br /><br />I spent Tuesday morning listening to a succession of panel discussions about podcasting and videocasting. <a href="http://www.davidleeking.com/">David King</a> focused on the possibilities for video casting, showing some of his own videos as well as a humorous short video about a guy trying to open a newly designed can of Progresso Soup (chicken noodle, I think). By the end of the video the poor guy had me thinking that "Regresso" would be a more accurate brand name for that product.<br /><br />Tuesday afternoon <a href="http://www.blyberg.net/">John Blyberg</a> gave a good overview of mashup possibilities involving library data sources, and there was a very good panel discussion about online social networking juggernauts, such as MySpace and Facebook, and why libraries should reach out to patrons in those social networking spaces.<br /><br />All of the sessions I attended were very good—not a stinker in the bunch. My vote for the most strikingly enlightening session was a panel presentation made by some librarians from the University of Rochester. They reported on the results of a three-year ethnographic study of the information-seeking and -using habits of undergraduate students. When the research team visited the students in their residence halls late at night, they got a real lesson in multi-tasking. When the students were asked to draw and describe their ideal physical library environment, most of them drew comfortable, homey environments with lots of windows and natural light. <br /><br /><img title="Samuel Pepys" alt="Samuel Pepys" src="/media/blog/pepys1.jpg" align="right" border="0" /> Tuesday evening Teresa Koltzenburg, Michelle Boule, Jenny Levine, Kathryn Deiss, and I dined at <a href="http://www.passionfish.net/">Passionfish</a> in Pacific Grove, which is just a short drive from Monterey—unless Teresa is driving and Tom and Michelle are reading the map. Great conversation and food lured me away from the curb a bit.<br /><br />Through Jenny's Treo we learned that Sablefish is also called black cod, blue cod, and butterfish, and through Jenny's <a href="http://www.nintendo.com/systemsds">Nintendo DS</a> I learned that my current mental age is in the 80s, leading me to the conclusion that I must have the mind of an octogenarian trapped in the body of a middle-aged man.<br /><br />At this point, Pepys typically wrote in his diary, "And so home and to bed." Say goodnight, Pepys.</p>
<hr /><p>Technorati tags: <a href="http://technorati.com/tag/IL2006">IL2006</a>, <a href="http://technorati.com/tag/library-20">library-20</a>, <a href="http://technorati.com/tag/library2.0">library2.0</a>, <a href="http://technorati.com/tag/library+2.0">library 2.0</a>, <a href="http://technorati.com/tag/web2.0">web2.0</a>, <a href="http://technorati.com/tag/web+2.0">web 2.0</a> /&gt;</p>http://www.alatechsource.org/blog/2006/10/feeling-the-curb-in-monterey.html#commentsAudio BooksAudio Visual DepartmentDigitizing BooksLibrary 2.0ReadingSchool LibrariesWeb 2.0Thu, 26 Oct 2006 07:04:40 +0000Tom Peters135 at http://www.alatechsource.orgSpiralFrog and the Gyres of Historyhttp://www.alatechsource.org/blog/2006/09/spiralfrog-and-the-gyres-of-history.html
<p>Despite or because of its runaway success, the <a href="http://www.apple.com/itunes/">iPod/iTunes service</a> from Apple has more than a few critics and enemies. Some musicians and music companies don't like the strategy of ninety-nine-cent pricing. It smacks of the cheesy dollar-store marketing mindset. I agree with the <a href="http://www.techsource.ala.org/blog/2006/07/its-too-darn-hot-a-curmudgeons-asides.html">heat-wave gripes about Apple</a> that <a href="http://www.techsource.ala.org/blog/Karen+G./Schneider/100003/">Karen Schneider</a> posted to this blog in July, and I can add a few more rants of my own.<br /><br /><a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Herman_Melville"><img border="0" align="left" alt="Herman Melville" title="Herman Melville" src="/files/media/blog/Melville.Herman.jpg" /></a>First, what's up with all this whiteness? Although Apple has since offered devices in black and a few colors, most people associate the iPod with whiteness. I think Apple planned it that way. Where's the Melville who can plumb and limn the whiteness of the iPod as the current great white whale of our digital lives?<br /><br /></p>
<p>Second, I must confess with chagrin that the iPod device made a fool of me. Sometime in the last five years, I boldly predicted that no technological device would ever again dominate a device sector in the same way that the black rotary phone once dominated the telephone-handset sector in the mid-twentieth<sup></sup> century. I thought the historical development of user needs and expectations had led to the dawn of a never-ending era of niche markets for each device type in a given sector, such as PDAs, cell phones, and MP3 players.<br /><br />But the iPod device quickly gave the black rotary phone a run for its money. At one point, I think, the iPod had ninety-five-percent market share of the portable MP3 player market, though the percentage has since slipped as the competition has tried to answer the call.<br /><br /></p>
<p>Even the iTunes content site has been feeling a bit of heat from the competition. In May <a href="/blog/2006/05/napster-awakes.html">Napster re-launched</a>, offering five, free online listens of the millions of tunes in its master collection, plus options to subscribe to the service and get download privileges, or to purchase songs individually or via album form.<br /><br /></p>
<p>Late last month, the press was reporting that this December the startup company <a href="http://www.spiralfrog.com/">SpiralFrog</a> plans to "jump" (I had to do that) into the digital-music fray. SpiralFrog may be small and untested, but the startup has a big partner behind itâ€”<a href="http://www.universalmusic.com/overview.aspx">Universal Music Group</a>, the largest music company in the world.<br /><br />SpiralFrog is betting the farm that ad-based revenues will be sufficient to compete with ninety-nine cents per tune and subscription-based services. SpiralFrog describes itself as a "digital entertainment destination," which seems to indicate the company has larger aspirations than digital-music downloads. Froggy may be courtin' media moguls as we speak.<br /><br /><a href="http://www.yeatsvision.com/Geometry.html"><img border="0" align="right" alt="Gyre" title="Gyre" src="/files/media/blog/Gyre.Form.jpg" /></a></p>
<p>Thus the <a href="http://www.yeatsvision.com/Geometry.html">gyres</a> of digital musical history have been set up for what may develop into a perfect competitive storm. Soon audiophiles will be able to buy individual tunes, entire albums, subscribe to millions of songs, listen for free online, <strong style="font-style:italic;">and</strong> listen for free with downloading capabilities while suffering an onslaught of ads.<br /><br /></p>
<p>Some librarians argue that although the hacks, hops, and false starts experienced by the digital-music industry may be interesting in their own rights, they have little or nothing to do with the core content, service, and functional areas of most libraries. Scholarly e-books, popular audiobooks, and e-resources of all types are significantly different from digital music in how and why they are created; how they are marketed, packaged, sold, and leased; and how they are used by end-users.<br /><br /></p>
<p>Nevertheless, I can think of several reasons why librarians should pay attention to what iTunes, Napster, SpiralFrog, Rhapsody, and other online digital-music outlets are doing.<br /><br /></p>
<p>For starters, SpiralFrog will use the <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Windows_Media_Audio">WMA audio-file format</a> developed by Microsoft, which will not play on the iPod product line. WMA reportedly has strong DRM [digital rights management], but there have been reports recently that it too has been hacked. WMA also is the file format used by <a href="http://www.overdrive.com/audiobooks/">OverDrive</a> and <a href="http://www.oclc.org/audiobooks/default.htm">NetLibrary</a> for their downloadable digital-audiobook services, the two major services of this type for libraries. This may be a self-serving reason to root for SpiralFrog. If SpiralFrog is successful, maybe Apple will cave in and allow WMA files to be played on their devices.<br /><br /></p>
<p>Secondly, the downloadable digital-music field provides another interesting proving ground for several competing business models and phenomena, including the potential for rising user intolerance for ads. Ads are a valuable business tool only as long as enough people pay attention to them and go out and purchase things as a result of seeing (or hearing) those ads. If, collectively, we become sated with ads and refuse to buy what's being advertised, the "free access to content with an ad kicker" business model will be put in a jar of formaldehyde for future generations to study as an historical oddity.Technorati tags: <a href="http://technorati.com/tag/Audiobook">Audiobook</a>, <a href="http://technorati.com/tag/Audiobooks">Audiobooks</a>, <a href="http://technorati.com/tag/Digital+Rights+Management">Digital Rights Management</a>, <a href="http://technorati.com/tag/Download">Download</a>, <a href="http://technorati.com/tag/DRM">DRM</a>, <a href="http://technorati.com/tag/iPod">iPod</a>, <a href="http://technorati.com/tag/iTunes">iTunes</a>, <a href="http://technorati.com/tag/librarians">librarians</a>, <a href="http://technorati.com/tag/mp3">mp3</a>, <a href="http://technorati.com/tag/Music">Music</a>, <a href="http://technorati.com/tag/Napster">Napster</a>, <a href="http://technorati.com/tag/online-music">online-music</a>, <a href="http://technorati.com/tag/Rhapsody">Rhapsody</a>, <a href="http://technorati.com/tag/SpiralFrog">SpiralFrog</a></p>http://www.alatechsource.org/blog/2006/09/spiralfrog-and-the-gyres-of-history.html#commentsAudio BooksAudio Visual DepartmentDigital Rights ManagementReadingWed, 13 Sep 2006 22:55:58 +0000Tom Peters125 at http://www.alatechsource.orgLeft to Their Own Deviceshttp://www.alatechsource.org/blog/2006/07/left-to-their-own-devices.html
<p>Two news items that scurried across my attention in July have led me to conclude that, in this era of overlapping eras, we have entered yet another age.</p>
<p><br /><br />The first item was an <a href="http://www.chicagotribune.com/technology/chi-060719apple-story,1,3993241.story?coll=chi-business-hed">industry report</a> that Apple shipped more than eight million iPod devices in the second quarter of 2006.<span> </span>That's almost three million per month or 100,000 per day, and the second quarter is not a big gift-giving quarter, unless Apple packaged all those iPods in large plastic Easter eggs. (Remember, you read it here first.)</p>
<p><br /><br />The second item is a <a href="http://www.nytimes.com/2006/07/22/technology/22soft.html?_r=1&amp;ex=1153713600&amp;en=78691f5524ed9816&amp;ei=5087%0A&amp;oref=slogin">report in the NY <span style="font-style:italic;">Times</span></a> (free subscription required) of an "official" confirmation, sent as an e-mail message, from Microsoft that it is indeed developing a device—code name <span style="font-style:italic;">Zune</span>—to compete with Apple's iPod. If Microsoft hopes to ship thirty-five million Zunes in 2007 or 2008, it needs to best the iPod in some significant, indisputable manner. It won't be able to do that on the coolness factor, but it may be able to do so on the features and price fronts, which I always have considered chinks in iPod's shining white armor.</p>
<p><img align="right" title="Yellow Ice Cube, har, har" alt="Yellow Ice Cube, har, har" src="/media/blog/yellowicecube1.gif" /><br /><br />The new age I see dawning is the age of the <span style="font-weight:bold;text-decoration:underline;">p</span>ersonal, <span style="font-weight:bold;text-decoration:underline;">p</span>ortable <span style="font-weight:bold;text-decoration:underline;">i</span>nformation / <span style="font-weight:bold;text-decoration:underline;">c</span>ommunication / <span style="font-weight:bold;text-decoration:underline;">e</span>ntertainment device. Granted, that's a long gray name for a bright new age, but if you vocalize the acronym—<span style="font-style:italic;font-weight:bold;">PP ICE Device</span>—it has certain melodious qualities. (I can already envision some waggish comments to this post, such as, "Don't eat the yellow ICE, har, har," and, "This fool is predicting a new ICE age when the scientific evidence of global warming is undeniable.") <br /><br />PP ICE devices are intensely personal and eminently portable. We carry them in our purses, briefcases, backpacks, and pockets—even in our underwear. I could find <a href="http://www.freshpair.com/catalog_section_men_brand_143.html?CMP=KNC-G">boomboxer styles</a> for both women and men, but no briefs or thongs. Already we use them to communicate with others, to interact with information objects (digital audiobooks, e-books, documents, etc.), and to experience entertainment objects (music, videos, TV shows, etc.) while on the go.</p>
<p><br /><br />The forthcoming iPod–Zune slugfest is just part of a larger industry battle to determine which PP ICE device design will dominate. When I discussed this with several library-information vendors at the <a href="http://www.ala.org/ala/eventsandconferencesb/annual/2006a/2006an.htm">ALA Annual Conference in New Orleans</a> last month, they thought the basic cell-phone design would eventually prevail. Personally, I think the portable MP3 player will morph into a portable media player, then merge with portable gaming devices to give the cell phone a run for its (um, our) money.</p>
<p><br /><br /><img border="0" align="left" src="/files/media/blog/IceCube.gif" title="Another Yellow Ice Cube" alt="Another Yellow Ice Cube" />Notice that the cell phone emerged from the communication sector of the ICE race, and MP3 players, portable media devices, and portable gaming devices all emerged from the entertainment sector of the ICE race. The devices that emerged out of the information-storage and -retrieval sector are not shipping more than eight-million units per quarter. The PDA line did well for a while, but dedicated-reading devices really don't have much chance of becoming serious PP ICE contendas.</p>
<p><br /><br />Librarianship needs to take the PP ICE device era more seriously and plan for the day when most library content and services will be delivered predominantly to PP ICE devices. Many libraries will need to address digital-divide issues by purchasing some of these devices to circulate, but in most instances patrons will be using their own (or company-owned) devices to access library content and services.<br /><br />If the "I" (information) already is the weak spot on this new ICE sheet, librarians need to work together, as well as with the information-technology and -content industries, to strengthen it. Let's not leave library patrons on thin ICE... let's not leave them to their own devices. Technorati tags: <a href="http://technorati.com/tag/Apple">Apple</a>, <a href="http://technorati.com/tag/digital+content">digital content</a>, <a href="http://technorati.com/tag/E-Books">E-Books</a>, <a href="http://technorati.com/tag/E-books+and+other+digipubs">E-books and other digipubs</a>, <a href="http://technorati.com/tag/iPod">iPod</a>, <a href="http://technorati.com/tag/librarians">librarians</a>, <a href="http://technorati.com/tag/libraries">libraries</a>, <a href="http://technorati.com/tag/library+2.0">library 2.0</a>, <a href="http://technorati.com/tag/Microsoft">Microsoft</a>, <a href="http://technorati.com/tag/mobile+media">mobile media</a>, <a href="http://technorati.com/tag/MP3+Players">MP3 Players</a>, <a href="http://technorati.com/tag/Portable+Media">Portable Media</a>, <a href="http://technorati.com/tag/time+shifting">time shifting</a>, <a href="http://technorati.com/tag/zune">zune</a></p>http://www.alatechsource.org/blog/2006/07/left-to-their-own-devices.html#commentsAccessibilityAudio BooksAudio Visual DepartmentDigital LibrariesDigitizing BooksLibrary 2.0Time-Shifting with TechnologyWeb 2.0Wed, 26 Jul 2006 15:39:32 +0000Tom Peters115 at http://www.alatechsource.orgNapster Awakeshttp://www.alatechsource.org/blog/2006/05/napster-awakes.html
<p><img border="0" align="right" alt="Tom Peters points to why librarians might want to consider Napster." title="Tom Peters points to why librarians might want to consider Napster." src="/files/media/blog/Peters.Tom.outdoors.jpg" />Earlier this week, after years of a court-induced coma, the <a href="http://www.napster.com/">Napster.com</a> Web site became live and free again. This time, the Napster executives claim they are too legit to quit. <br /><br />Here's the new deal. Napster <a href="http://www.napster.com/press_releases/pr_060501.html">claims</a> to have two-million songs in its master collection. If an individual fills out a no-cost Web registration form, he or she is then allowed to listen to any and all of the tunes up to five times. You do the math.<br /><br /></p>
<p>Okay, I will. That's ten million potential circs per user. If the average song lasts three minutes, that's 30 million minutes of listening, or 500,000 hours, or 20,833 days, or 57 years. If you take some time off to sleep, work, go to class, or just give your eardrums a rest, that's easily a lifetime of listening.<br /><br /></p>
<p>You can buy individual tracks, or entire albums, or <a href="http://www.napster.com/subscribe/">subscribe</a> for $9.95 per month for unlimited downloads and no ads. If you want to have unlimited transfers to your MP3 player, the subscription price increases to $14.95 per month.<br /><br /></p>
<p>Two million sounds like a lot of tunes. Let's do some spot checking:</p>
<ul><li><a href="http://www.napster.com/view/artist/index.html?id=11540786">Captain &amp; Tennille</a>—A few albums of the best of/greatest hits variety.</li>
<li><a href="http://www.napster.com/search/results.html?type=Artist&amp;query=Beethoven&amp;x=31&amp;y=14">Beethoven</a>—Call in the name-authority squad! Dozens of name entries, including <span style="font-style:italic;">Ludwig</span> and others.</li>
<li><a href="http://www.napster.com/search/results.html?type=Artist&amp;query=MC+Hammer&amp;x=38&amp;y=9">MC Hammer</a>—Three albums listed under <a style="font-style:italic;" href="http://www.napster.com/view/artist/index.html?id=10472181">MC Hammer</a>, and two other tracks listed by <a href="http://www.napster.com/view/artist/index.html?id=12075813"> <span style="font-style:italic;">Prime Minister/MC Hammer/F.T.F.</span></a> and <a style="font-style:italic;" href="http://www.napster.com/view/artist/index.html?id=12075815">Prime Minister/MC Hammer/Keli-Kel</a><span style="font-style:italic;">.</span></li>
<li><a href="http://www.napster.com/view/artist/index.html?id=12054309">The Hush Sound</a>—One album released in 2005, <span style="font-style:italic;">So Sudden</span>; they sound pretty good!</li>
<li><a href="http://www.napster.com/view/artist/index.html?id=11504678">Boxcar Willie</a>—Two albums.</li>
<li><a href="http://www.napster.com/search/results.html?type=Artist&amp;query=Perry+Como&amp;x=0&amp;y=0">Perry Como</a>—Dozens of name entries again, with <a href="http://www.napster.com/view/artist/index.html?id=12067868">"Karaoke—Perry Como"</a> my personal favorite.</li>
<li><a href="http://www.napster.com/search/results.html?type=Artist&amp;query=Screamin%27+Jay+Hawkins&amp;x=49&amp;y=6">Screamin' Jay Hawkins</a>—Seven albums listed under "<a href="http://www.napster.com/view/artist/index.html?id=10427847">Screamin'</a>..." and one different album under "<a href="http://www.napster.com/view/artist/index.html?id=12049341">Screaming</a>..."</li>
<li><a href="http://www.napster.com/search/results.html?type=Artist&amp;query=Barrence+Whitfield&amp;x=0&amp;y=0">Barrence Whitfield</a> and the Savages—One measly track ("Pony Time") under <a href="http://www.napster.com/view/artist/index.html?id=12093748" style="font-style:italic;">Barrence Whitfield</a>, with one album thrown in if you search by artist on <a href="http://www.napster.com/search/results.html?type=Artist&amp;query=The+Savages&amp;x=20&amp;y=15"><span style="font-style:italic;">The Savages</span></a> (which <a href="http://www.napster.com/view/artist/index.html?id=12072060">returns</a> the 1990 release <span style="font-style:italic;">Let's Lose It</span> by Barrence <span style="font-weight:bold;font-style:italic;">Whitefield</span> and The Savages).</li></ul>
<p><span style="font-weight:bold;">
Why Should Librarians Care What Happens to Napster Reborn?</span><br />I couldn't find any mention of institutional-subscription options. Unless you work in a music library, your library's collection of recorded music probably leaves something to be desired. And it does seem that, as a form of creative, artistic expression, music has sunken to a leprous low in this first decade of the new millennium; <a href="http://www.napster.com/view/artist/index.html?id=12011811">Napster</a> and iTunes, these days, have <a href="http://www.hitentertainment.com/barney/index.html">Barney</a> and <a href="http://www.thewiggles.com.au/">The Wiggles</a> waiting in the wings. Unclean, unclean! <br /><br /><img border="0" align="left" title="Beehive" alt="Beehive" src="/media/blog/beehive1.jpg" />But here's one reason we should pay attention: <a href="http://narchive.napster.com/" style="font-style:italic;">Narchive</a>. When I first read about the Narchive, I thought it was a compound word describing a swarming hive of narcotics officers. Or perhaps <a href="http://www.archives.gov/">NARA </a>had teamed up with Napster? Stranger things have happened.<br /><br />Actually, it's a contraction for <span style="font-style:italic;">Napster Archive</span>. The Napster execs score ten bonus points for retaining the final <span style="font-style:italic;">e</span>. The Narchive hasn't been revealed to the public yet, but it will be a community space for sharing free music using <a href="http://www.napster.com/napsterlinks/">NapsterLinks</a>, stories, photos, images, trenchant commentary, etc.<br /><br />Everybody seems to be getting in on the Web 2.0 online community building thing. Technorati tags: <a href="http://technorati.com/tag/audio+archives">audio archives</a>, <a href="http://technorati.com/tag/digital+music+storage">digital music storage</a>, <a href="http://technorati.com/tag/digital+rights+management">digital rights management</a>, <a href="http://technorati.com/tag/DRM">DRM</a>, <a href="http://technorati.com/tag/iTunes">iTunes</a>, <a href="http://technorati.com/tag/online+communities">online communities</a>, <a href="http://technorati.com/tag/music+archives">music archives</a>, <a href="http://technorati.com/tag/music+downloads">music downloads</a>, <a href="http://technorati.com/tag/Napster">Napster</a>, <a href="http://technorati.com/tag/Web+2.0">Web 2.0</a></p>http://www.alatechsource.org/blog/2006/05/napster-awakes.html#commentsAudio Visual DepartmentDigital LibrariesDigital Rights ManagementWeb 2.0Tue, 02 May 2006 17:40:06 +0000Tom Peters94 at http://www.alatechsource.orgCrystal Visions of the Audio Visual Department 2015http://www.alatechsource.org/blog/2006/01/crystal-visions-of-the-audio-visual-department-2015.html
<p>
<br /><br /><a href="http://video.google.com/videoplay?docid=-6499070562565009143&amp;q=fleetwood+mac">"Now here I go again... I see the Crystal Vision." </a><br /><br />Sunday, January 8th, the <a href="http://www.southbendtribune.com/apps/pbcs.dll/frontpage"><span style="font-style:italic;">South Bend Tribune</span></a>, my local newspaper, ran a local-section front-page story on <a href="http://www.libraryforlife.org/">SJCPL</a>'s decision to discontinue purchasing videocassettes. In the article, “VHS Bites the Dust: DVDs Reign at Local Public Libraries<span style="font-style:italic;">," </span>writer Yashekia Smalls covers changes in the library's collection:</p>
<p><span style="font-style:italic;">The St. Joseph County Library owned almost 16,000 copies of DVDs in December 2004, while offering a little more than 24,000 video cassettes. But the tables turned last December, with the library dropping down to almost 18,000 video cassettes in stock and increasing its number of DVDs by 10,000. When [Joe] Sipocz, former manager of collection development at the county's main library, looked at recent statistics, he saw that video cassette circulation actually peaked in 2002. "I was worried that maybe we had stopped too soon, but we didn't stop soon enough," Sipocz said.</span>(I'd link to it but our paper only leaves articles up for seven days.)<br /><br /><img border="0" align="right" src="/files/media/Stephens.Michael.blog.pic.v3.jpg" title="Michael Stephens, Librarian and Music Fan" alt="Michael Stephens, Librarian and Music Fan" /></p>
<p>Here's the interesting part for me: while this is happening locally, we are also on the edge of a bigger change. A lot is happening at once in the realm of home enterntainment, media, and delivery. <a href="http://www.techsource.ala.org/blog/2005/10/timeshifted-video-for-the-masses.html">Jenny wrote about it here.</a> And more is to come—today even... if certain rumors hold true.<br /><br />For example these notes, articles, and little events found their way into my aggregator in the last few days, and they get me wondering about what the future incarnation of the tried-and-true Audio Visual Department will look like in 2015:<br /><br /><a href="http://money.cnn.com/2006/01/04/technology/ces_gates/index.htm?section=cnn_topstories" style="font-weight:bold;">Microsoft Launches a Music Download Service</a><br />And Bill Gates says, "We've talked about this as decade of digital lifestyle, work style," he said. "What that means is all these tools become mainstream. Software will come in and make things both simpler and more effective. Not having to think about disks, entertainment, having a digital jukebox anywhere in the house so you can call up the movies you want and see anything you want to."<br /><br />This makes me wonder: If, in the next few years, we have "a digital jukebox" in our homes for music, photos, movies, TV show, etc., what role might the library play?<br /><br /><a href="http://go.reuters.com/newsArticle.jhtml?type=entertainmentNews&amp;storyID=10756679&amp;src=rss/Entertainment" style="font-weight:bold;">Music Album Sales Hit Eight-Year Low in 2005</a><br />"After enjoying a rare 'up' year in 2004, prompting predictions the worst was over, sales flagged during 2005, hurt by competition from illegal downloads, rival forms of entertainment such as video games, and a lack of breakout musical acts."<br /><br />This makes me wonder: Will the "<span style="text-decoration:underline;"></span><a href="http://wired-vig.wired.com/wired/archive/12.10/tail.html">Long Tail</a>" replace the blockbuster—with niche entertainment programming, games, and the like being the norm as digital-media consumers can select whatever their hearts desire?<br /><br /><a href="http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=5126041" style="font-weight:bold;">NPR Covers Video Programming Wherever, Whenever</a><br />"Over the holidays, millions of Americans received video gadgets as gifts, from pocket-sized video iPods to flat-screen, high-definition TVs. Both technologies are the first signs of a sweeping television revolution—undoing nearly sixty years of viewing habits, and forming new ones."<br /><br />This makes me wonder: In 2015, if I can buy select episodes or season runs of my favorite programs, why would I need a subscription-based 400 channel service? Will we be choosing our programming Ã la carte?<br /><br /><span style="font-weight:bold;">From the Consumer Electronics Show</span><br /><a href="http://www.sandisk.com/Products/Catalog(1166)-SanDisk_Sansa_e200_Series_MP3_Players.aspx">Sandisk unveils 'nano killer' music player</a> and <a href="http://playlistmag.com/news/2006/01/05/sandisk/index.php?lsrc=mwrss">Playlist reports</a>: Every participant in the flash-memory music-player market is looking up at the iPod. Apple has come to dominate the market for handheld music players over the past few years, but Sandisk, Creative Technology Ltd., and other companies are jockeying for position behind Apple and hoping to win over new music-player users or disaffected iPod owners.<br /><br />This makes me wonder: How soon will the leap to integrated media-rich devices/phones make the iPod and others obsolete? Once the phones have all the capabilities of the most popular consumer devices, everyone will want one. When prices fall drastically as the technology becomes commonplace, everyone will have one.<br /><br /><a href="http://www.thelongtail.com/the_long_tail/2006/01/q_how_can_you_t.html" style="font-weight:bold;">'The Long Tail' Asks: “How Can You Tell When an Industry Is on the Rocks?”</a><br />First comment on linked post above: <span style="font-style:italic;">The short answer: when they fail to recognize change.<br />Longer answer: they not only fail to recognize change, but ignore it, than deny it exists, than resists change, and ultimately fights to hang on to the old ways until their dying breath. </span><br style="font-style:italic;" /><br /><a href="http://www.thelongtail.com/the_long_tail/2006/01/the_decade_the_.html">And then 'The Long Tail' points to: "The Decade the Blockbuster Died."</a><span style="font-style:italic;"><br /><br /></span><a href="http://www.macworldexpo.com/live/20/" style="font-weight:bold;">Macworld in San Francisco</a><br />Finally, today kicks off MacWorld, and the Mac rumor boards are buzzing with what Apple might roll out next. <br /><br /><a href="http://www.macrumors.com/pages/2005/12/20051202133834.shtml">The most intriguing bit in my book? This:</a> "Think Secret claims that Apple is set to unveil a new media content delivery system, which will include feature-length content, expanded television offerings, and more. According to their source, the new system will rely on .Mac's iDisk for storage, keeping media files from ever being held locally on the purchaser's hard drive…."<br /><br />This makes me wonder about: "feature-length content"; it could be BIG. It could be the first step on the road to all-digital entertainment available on demand to folks' media devices at home, on their phones, wherever they might be.<br /><br /><a href="http://www.macrumors.com/pages/2006/01/20060109153320.shtml">Apple may also be unveiling plasma screens with built-in digital video recorders.</a> Whatever Apple rolls out today, as well as what <a href="http://video.google.com/">Google Video</a> is offering, likely means that our audio visual departments are going to be much different in a few years. Will CD production slow so much that some titles are only available online? What will be the first blockbuster online-only album? Will there even be blockbusters?<br /><br />This will be a slow change. Early adopters will pave the way, just as it took years for the VHS cassette to come and be on the way out. Collections will remain, for those folks who keep their players, probably as long as there is demand. Will the product be available on CD or DVD? Doubtful.<br /><br />So, what's the "Crystal Vision?" The Audio Visual Department of 2015 may be two spaces: 1) a vibrant space for digital creation and mashing up all of our content and room to gather and pursue our hearts' interests and 2) a space with a bunch of servers that serve out library-licensed content to library users, wherever they happen to be. <br /><br />There are many hurdles, many discussions and many avenues to explore to get to this point, and I certainly hope it plays out this way.<br /><br />Rock On.<span style="font-style:italic;"><br /></span>Technorati tags: <a href="http://technorati.com/tag/audio+visual">audio visual</a>, <a href="http://technorati.com/tag/Audio-Visual">Audio-Visual</a>, <a href="http://technorati.com/tag/library">library</a>, <a href="http://technorati.com/tag/Web">Web</a>, <a href="http://technorati.com/tag/google+video">google video</a>, <a href="http://technorati.com/tag/Microsoft">Microsoft</a>, <a href="http://technorati.com/tag/MacWorld">MacWorld</a>, <a href="http://technorati.com/tag/music+service">music service</a>, <a href="http://technorati.com/tag/mobile+video">mobile video</a></p>http://www.alatechsource.org/blog/2006/01/crystal-visions-of-the-audio-visual-department-2015.html#commentsAudio Visual DepartmentTue, 10 Jan 2006 17:41:23 +0000Michael Stephens54 at http://www.alatechsource.org